7 ms·

Jobs don't scale

37 points by snitko 17y ago

DenisM 17y ago
Good on you to have realized the inherent job scalability problem so early on in your life - you have just easily saved yourself several years of your life. The economical relationship between employer and employee is such that your employer takes upon himself all small and moderately-sized economical risks and in return collects most of the upside. There are exceptions such an outsized IPO (very rare) on one side and layoff (not so rare) on the other. In other words it's a risk swap not unlike car insurance or extended warranty. It's a great deal for someone who can't tolerate cashflow problems (e.g. who is in debt), but this sort of risk swap is unnecessary for someone who has a cash cushion to ride out the rough times. Many people voluntarily put themselves into such position e.g. by spending beyond their means - don't do that. Your #1 goal is establish the cash cushion. Your #2 goal is to find a worthy idea. Once you have both you can burn cash to build business out of your idea. Here's how you do it: 1. Get a job and keep it. Reduce your burn rate and save money. You're ready when you have 18-24 months worth of burn rate stashed in the bank CDs (do not mess with the stock market - you are your high-upside investment). 2. While holding a job identify a group of people who have money, have problems, are willing to pay to solve the problems, you are able to solve the problems (it's in your domain), you can easily find and talk to. Bad choice examples: software engineers, teenage gamers. Good choice examples: middle-age middle-class women, small business owners. Business is not a legal entity and not even a product - business is a group of people whom you can reach and whose problems you can solve better than other people and who can pay you for it. Once you have that you've made it. 3. Talk to these people and verify the problem. Build a mockup of the solution and talk to them again. Try to sell the mockup on google adwords or any other channel you were going to use to reach out to your audience. This is a low-bandwidth activity that you can do while keeping your day job. Don't be afraid to drop one problem in favor of the another. In fact, strive for it - try to discover the most pressing problem your audience may have. 4. In a couple of years you should a solid idea about what to do, how to do it and how to sell it. You should also have enough cash to make the leap. You know the time is right when it doesn't feel like a "leap" anymore. Also, read "Re-work" - it'll do you good. Good luck.
- snitko 17y ago
  Thanks for such an extensive advice.
  - DenisM 17y ago
    This topic seems to cause some interest judging by votes. So if there is further interest I could write a blog post in greater depth about this subject, and then we could probably have a more targeted discussion in the comments for it.
    - al_ 17y ago
      Please do it. I'm more or less in the same situation of the OP, and your answer gave me a fantastic energy boost.
- kiba 17y ago
  The problem is, that I want to make games.
  - gfodor 17y ago
    At some point in the last 10 years I realized not only are video games a waste of time but transitivity working on building them is nearly as much a waste of time. They're fun, but ultimately are just entertainment. I still play them occasionally. But the entire gaming industry from the players up to the executives at the end of the day are just providing people means of escaping from reality. Beating a game is a false, manufactured sense of accomplishment: it's like getting a "participation" ribbon in the game of life. Fun, yes, but ultimately I think it becomes as satisfying to beat a game as it is to eat a pastry from starbucks: in either case you're consuming a wholly manufactured experience that provides slim to nil real value for your mind or your body. In other words, there are much more interesting, difficult, and worthwhile problems to solve than how to build a better RPG or FPS. You're just not looking hard enough.
    - almost 17y ago
olegkikin 17y ago
nothing excites me. Nor technical problems neither a project itself unless it's my idea and my project and my business ... So what's the problem, you're saying? Well, I have no good ideas to work on :)
heresy 17y ago
You sound like me 10 years ago... I'm guessing you're in your 20s. Take advantage of the mobility and freedom of choice that comes with having no little people depending on you to bring home the bacon, as when that happens your choices become somewhat less... Not a bad thing, just a different thing :)
- snitko 17y ago
  Tell me you're rich or something now ) Yeah, I'm 24.
- wyclif 17y ago
  ...I want motivation, and marrying someone ain't gonna give me one. Agreed. When I read that, I knew he was under 30 and not married. Personally, I find that marriage rather focuses you in a laser-like way on cutting out the extraneous regarding personal projects (i.e. those which do not make money). Depending on your personality, this may inspire more passion than working only for the benefit of your own interests.
olalonde 17y ago
Jobs don't scale. No, really !? Am I the only one who's getting tired of meaningless headlines :|
JonM 17y ago
That all sounded a bit depressing..... but very familiar! I suggest you get in the gym!
- snitko 17y ago
  I go to the gym. I also run 3 miles every day and sleep full 8 hours. Not depressed, just saying what things really are.
siculars 17y ago
Kid, would you like some cheese with your whine?
- DenisM 17y ago
  If we never talk about anything that ails us we'll never fix it.
bitdiddle 17y ago
With all due respect this post is kind of pointless. What motivates the author is more money and being wealthy. Well then go for it, build a company and be wealthy. Don't work on someone else's idea. The mistake I see a lot of young programmers making is to not realize that when you are young all your capital is in your head. Don't squander it.
incosta 17y ago
Not everyone is bursting with ideas all the time. Make enough contacts and meet people. Some travel may help, just like you said, it takes some effort. Don't get me wrong but a relationship can help to get rid of the 'nothing excites me' mood.
w3matter 17y ago
Jobs, for the vast majority of people who only move horizontally and very little vertically in any org; will never scale. This is why America is overrun with tons of get-rich-quick schemes. That's why MLM seminars are crowded after work at your local airport hotel. That's why the lottery lines are crowded on Friday afternoons. And people in those jobs know it. That's why they keep trying for the MLM or trying to start a side-business. And thats why so many people get thrown into despair when they lose those jobs after calibrating their lives around it. I'm pretty sure in 10 years from now, there will be more and more people working freelance, as businesses realize and it dawns on people that the days of the kinds of permanent jobs our Dads and Moms had are over.
ojbyrne 17y ago
The size of CEO's salaries seems to make this claim false on the face of it (http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/02/top-paid-ceos-steve-jobs-drops-from-no-1-to-no-120/ http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/02/top-p...). Admittedly some of those people did actually found companies, but many also spent time getting an education, moving into an entry-level (ish) job, then climbing the ranks, building a career not just a job. I understand the point, but there are other perspectives.
alastair 17y ago
on a similar note, a great article on why a fixed income is a 'sucker bet' - http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/09/a-fixed-income-is-a-sucker-bet/ http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/09/a-fixed-income-is-a...

37 points by snitko 17y ago

Good on you to have realized the inherent job scalability problem so early on in your life - you have just easily saved yourself several years of your life. The economical relationship between employer and employee is such that your employer takes upon himself all small and moderately-sized economical risks and in return collects most of the upside. There are exceptions such an outsized IPO (very rare) on one side and layoff (not so rare) on the other. In other words it's a risk swap not unlike car insurance or extended warranty. It's a great deal for someone who can't tolerate cashflow problems (e.g. who is in debt), but this sort of risk swap is unnecessary for someone who has a cash cushion to ride out the rough times. Many people voluntarily put themselves into such position e.g. by spending beyond their means - don't do that. Your #1 goal is establish the cash cushion. Your #2 goal is to find a worthy idea. Once you have both you can burn cash to build business out of your idea. Here's how you do it: 1. Get a job and keep it. Reduce your burn rate and save money. You're ready when you have 18-24 months worth of burn rate stashed in the bank CDs (do not mess with the stock market - you are your high-upside investment). 2. While holding a job identify a group of people who have money, have problems, are willing to pay to solve the problems, you are able to solve the problems (it's in your domain), you can easily find and talk to. Bad choice examples: software engineers, teenage gamers. Good choice examples: middle-age middle-class women, small business owners. Business is not a legal entity and not even a product - business is a group of people whom you can reach and whose problems you can solve better than other people and who can pay you for it. Once you have that you've made it. 3. Talk to these people and verify the problem. Build a mockup of the solution and talk to them again. Try to sell the mockup on google adwords or any other channel you were going to use to reach out to your audience. This is a low-bandwidth activity that you can do while keeping your day job. Don't be afraid to drop one problem in favor of the another. In fact, strive for it - try to discover the most pressing problem your audience may have. 4. In a couple of years you should a solid idea about what to do, how to do it and how to sell it. You should also have enough cash to make the leap. You know the time is right when it doesn't feel like a "leap" anymore. Also, read "Re-work" - it'll do you good. Good luck.

snitko 17y ago
Thanks for such an extensive advice.
- DenisM 17y ago
  This topic seems to cause some interest judging by votes. So if there is further interest I could write a blog post in greater depth about this subject, and then we could probably have a more targeted discussion in the comments for it.
  - al_ 17y ago
    Please do it. I'm more or less in the same situation of the OP, and your answer gave me a fantastic energy boost.
kiba 17y ago
The problem is, that I want to make games.
- gfodor 17y ago
  At some point in the last 10 years I realized not only are video games a waste of time but transitivity working on building them is nearly as much a waste of time. They're fun, but ultimately are just entertainment. I still play them occasionally. But the entire gaming industry from the players up to the executives at the end of the day are just providing people means of escaping from reality. Beating a game is a false, manufactured sense of accomplishment: it's like getting a "participation" ribbon in the game of life. Fun, yes, but ultimately I think it becomes as satisfying to beat a game as it is to eat a pastry from starbucks: in either case you're consuming a wholly manufactured experience that provides slim to nil real value for your mind or your body. In other words, there are much more interesting, difficult, and worthwhile problems to solve than how to build a better RPG or FPS. You're just not looking hard enough.
  - almost 17y ago

olegkikin 17y ago

nothing excites me. Nor technical problems neither a project itself unless it's my idea and my project and my business ... So what's the problem, you're saying? Well, I have no good ideas to work on :)

heresy 17y ago

You sound like me 10 years ago... I'm guessing you're in your 20s. Take advantage of the mobility and freedom of choice that comes with having no little people depending on you to bring home the bacon, as when that happens your choices become somewhat less... Not a bad thing, just a different thing :)

snitko 17y ago
Tell me you're rich or something now ) Yeah, I'm 24.
wyclif 17y ago
...I want motivation, and marrying someone ain't gonna give me one. Agreed. When I read that, I knew he was under 30 and not married. Personally, I find that marriage rather focuses you in a laser-like way on cutting out the extraneous regarding personal projects (i.e. those which do not make money). Depending on your personality, this may inspire more passion than working only for the benefit of your own interests.

olalonde 17y ago

Jobs don't scale. No, really !? Am I the only one who's getting tired of meaningless headlines :|

JonM 17y ago

That all sounded a bit depressing..... but very familiar! I suggest you get in the gym!

snitko 17y ago
I go to the gym. I also run 3 miles every day and sleep full 8 hours. Not depressed, just saying what things really are.

siculars 17y ago

Kid, would you like some cheese with your whine?

DenisM 17y ago
If we never talk about anything that ails us we'll never fix it.

bitdiddle 17y ago

With all due respect this post is kind of pointless. What motivates the author is more money and being wealthy. Well then go for it, build a company and be wealthy. Don't work on someone else's idea. The mistake I see a lot of young programmers making is to not realize that when you are young all your capital is in your head. Don't squander it.

incosta 17y ago

Not everyone is bursting with ideas all the time. Make enough contacts and meet people. Some travel may help, just like you said, it takes some effort. Don't get me wrong but a relationship can help to get rid of the 'nothing excites me' mood.

w3matter 17y ago

Jobs, for the vast majority of people who only move horizontally and very little vertically in any org; will never scale. This is why America is overrun with tons of get-rich-quick schemes. That's why MLM seminars are crowded after work at your local airport hotel. That's why the lottery lines are crowded on Friday afternoons. And people in those jobs know it. That's why they keep trying for the MLM or trying to start a side-business. And thats why so many people get thrown into despair when they lose those jobs after calibrating their lives around it. I'm pretty sure in 10 years from now, there will be more and more people working freelance, as businesses realize and it dawns on people that the days of the kinds of permanent jobs our Dads and Moms had are over.

ojbyrne 17y ago

The size of CEO's salaries seems to make this claim false on the face of it (http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/02/top-paid-ceos-steve-jobs-drops-from-no-1-to-no-120/ http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/05/02/top-p...). Admittedly some of those people did actually found companies, but many also spent time getting an education, moving into an entry-level (ish) job, then climbing the ranks, building a career not just a job. I understand the point, but there are other perspectives.

alastair 17y ago

on a similar note, a great article on why a fixed income is a 'sucker bet' - http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/09/a-fixed-income-is-a-sucker-bet/ http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2009/09/a-fixed-income-is-a...